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First of All with Victor Blackwell

Parents Of Nolan Wells Speak Out On Questions After Son's Death; Clock Ticks As Immigration With TPS Work In Limbo; U.S. Extends Work Permits For Haitians, Others With TPS For Short Period On Day Of Deadline; New Military Shaving Policy Hurts Readiness and Black Men; Man Fatally Shot By ICE In Houston Was Not Intended Target; Tribes Sue To Stop Removal Of Wild Horses From Ancestral Land. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 11, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[08:00:24]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, we need to know more about the death of Nolan Wells than we know right now. We're reaching one week since he first disappeared off the coast of Mississippi, and the distrust his family and supporters in their community and online have. And what officials say they know so far is notable. In a moment, I'm going to speak with Nolan's parents and their attorney, Ben Crump, about what they've been able to learn about Nolan's final moments and the questions they're still desperate to have answered about his death.

But here's what we do know. On July 4, Nolan set out to celebrate Independence Day on Horn Island. It's a popular barrier island about 10 miles off the coast of Mississippi. When Nolan's family reported him missing the night of July 4th after they received a phone call from one of his friends, his body was found on the island on Monday.

And there's a lot we still don't know about what happened in between. He did not return on the boat with his friends. Why? At some point, he got separated from his cell phone. Why?

In the absence of facts, people are reacting to a photo. This photo, it's of Nolan and his friends that day. The disparity jumps out. Four friends. One is Black. The three white friends made it home.

Nolan did not. And that simple fact led to a lot of people reacting to his death to make a few assumptions. That by being the only Black person in an all-white space, his safety, their loyalty as friends, were already in doubt. It's suspicion and speculation, but it does not come out of nowhere. Look up his name on social media and you'll find so many people sharing their own stories online about how challenging it's been to be the only or one of a few Black people at a gathering.

Maybe they've had these lived experiences themselves. Maybe they're the parents of Black boys or girls in that situation right now. Others who don't share that lived experience may say, well, let's just let the investigation play out. And let's be clear, that should happen. And the investigation is very much still ongoing, but there's already distrust with that, too.

The family's legal team is quick to point out this happened in Mississippi, a state with fraught racial history, to say the least. To that point, the family has commissioned an independent autopsy. They say they want transparency and respect and answers.

Nolan's parents are with us now. Christine and Elmore Wonsley, along with their attorney, Ben Crump. Welcome to you all. Thank you for being on the show.

And, Christine, let me start with you, because a week ago, your son was with you. He was alive, and now you are desperate to find answers about how and why his life ended. The basic question is, what's your degree of confidence that you will get those answers?

CHRISTINE WONSLEY, MOTHER OF NOLAN WELLS: I can't answer that. The only thing that we can do as parents is hope that our local authorities do a thorough investigation. But also, again, the reason why, you know, we have asked for additional, you know, things with our legal team. Transparency is important.

Since we started this, that is all we asked for. And it's just a lot of things with this case that's going on that's not clear. I know locally it's being pushed that, oh, it's likely a drowning. Well, you know, you have all these other things that have kind of happened in between, and it makes you wonder, you know, could there be anything else? And again, like I've stated this time and time again, I would expect any parent or person to want to use any resources available to them to find their loved one.

This was our baby boy. You know, I birthed him. So I just -- I would not be able to sleep at night. I mean, I can't right now. Definitely we can't, but I definitely would not be able to, knowing that I didn't do everything as his mother to ensure that I knew what happened to him. And that's all we're asking for, is we're asking for answers.

BLACKWELL: Elmore, speaking of parents, a mother of one of Nolan's friends who was with him that day released a statement. Let me read part of it. "No one in our family is trying in any way to impede with the investigation by law enforcement or to otherwise hamper the family and law enforcement's quest for answers.

[08:05:05]

Warren was interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff's Department and cooperated fully. He saw Nolan last at around 3:00 p.m. on July 4th.

They left around 4:30 p.m. when the boat was taking on water and they had an issue with the bilge pump. Nolan made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends."

I know that there are parts of that narrative you say just don't add up. What do you make of the explanation that it was because of a pump malfunction that they left? ELMORE WONSLEY, FATHER OF NOLAN WELLS: From a parent's point of view, well, from my point of view, if I was --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

E. WONSLEY: -- in this situation, Nolan would have got on the boat. I would have not left him there. If you come with me, you're going to leave with me, because if anything happens to you and I was the one that brought you there, then I would be the one to have the answer to your parents. So I'm not going to leave anyone's child anywhere if I took them somewhere.

Now, if they make the decision to go back after I bring them home, then that's a decision that child made then. But as far as me taking you there, you will come back with me. And if you put up any kind of struggle, give me a phone, let me call your parents so they can make you come. But I will not leave anyone else's child on an island. I will not leave anyone else's child stranded.

So that, to me, that's not -- you can give all this kind of -- you can give all the excuses you want, but you do not leave someone else's child anywhere if they're in your care.

BLACKWELL: And Christine, again, to Elmore's point of having to answer to their parents, what have, if anything, these friends or their parents said to you about what happened?

C. WONSLEY: So, of course, you know, the children have expressed their condolences. And, you know, Nolan was my best friend. That's what I keep hearing. You know, Nolan was my best friend. But the way Nolan was, he would have made sure, right, and with any of his friends across the board, whether you're Black, white, pink, purple, Nolan would have made sure, hey, man, let's go.

Like, hey, man, come on, let's, you know, we're done for the day type of deal. And once again, like I've said before, Nolan just had such a big heart. That was a concern we always had, is that his heart was just too big, because sometimes, and we would tell him that type of love that you give to others is not always reciprocated. But the, you know, the parents, again, they've offered -- and I need to correct myself because I think yesterday in one of the interviews, I think I said that maybe none of them, I want to say two or three of them have reached out. Just the first one expressing her condolences, another one just saying, hey, give me a call if and when you're ready --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

C. WONSLEY: -- type of deal. And then another one just, you know, sorry for your loss, but hey, you know, we need to talk type of thing. And you know what, it hasn't -- I mean, are we at a week? Like, my brain is mush. I -- we're all over the place emotionally. This just -- this has been a difficult situation.

Like, I cannot express how hard this has been on not just us as parents, but also his siblings.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

C. WONSLEY: They are struggling, too, with the fact that they do not have their brother.

BLACKWELL: Ben, let me bring you in. You ordered an independent autopsy on the Wonsley's behalf. Have you received those results yet? If not, when do you expect them?

BEN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Victor, we expect them very soon because we are trying to do everything to get to the truth. We're in ferocious pursuit of the truth because Nolan deserves it. And as his parents stated, they want transparency, they want an impartial investigation, and they want answers.

BLACKWELL: Your office is asking for people to come forward with details, any videos, any pictures from Horn Island. Have you received relevant calls adding to any evidence or giving you details that are not public now?

CRUMP: Yes, we're starting to get several calls from, we believe, young people, mostly because there are so many contradictions that are glaring. The fact, Victor Blackwell, that you have the young lady saying that Nolan was going back to the boat to be with the boys.

[08:10:06]

The boys said no. Nolan told them that he was going to stay with her. So, you know, you have this conflict that contradicts one another.

And then you have this video that's out there that suggests there was an argument that Nolan saying, give me my freaking phone. What are you freaking doing? And I think that becomes very relevant when you consider the fact that all three of the other boys made it home safely, but Nolan did not make it home safely, and they had his cell phone. We don't know of any teenager, if you believe what they're saying, that Nolan chose to stay behind, that he's not going to get his cell phone when he's on the island. So there are so many contradictions that we have to review to try to get the truth of what really happened why Nolan Wells is dead.

BLACKWELL: Ben, do you have any video from that day on Horn Island that is not public that people have not seen on social media?

CRUMP: I think probably all videos people have seen on social media. There's so much out there. So we have to review everything that people have given to us at bencrump.com or people who've been calling our call center saying that they were there at Horn Island.

BLACKWELL: Christine, you made a point a moment ago about telling your son that the love he gives out may not come back in return. And what a lot of people are responding to online are the images of your son being the only Black person in this photo. As Ben said on the news conference, it looked like maybe he was the only Black person on the Island or in the video we've seen so far. And I wonder, was there ever a moment that you thought that if something went down, if your son needed these friends, that the loyalty would be questionable because he was the only Black person in this circle, that he was -- he was in this day?

C. WONSLEY: So this is the thing, regardless of the color of anyone's skin, your hope is that the people your children call friends will be there. Like that is any parent's hope, right? Unfortunately, there are just so many patterns here in America when you start to talk about the African community. We've seen this time and time again, which, again, because I've seen the discourse about, oh, my gosh, you know, how can these Black parents just allow their son to be the token Black boy of the group? And that's the issue.

Like, Nolan was friends with everybody. When you look at all the messages, all of the people that are speaking out regarding Nolan, they are coming from all different backgrounds because -- and, you know, he just -- he loved everybody.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

C. WONSLEY: Nolan was a peacemaker. He wanted everybody to feel included. Again, he was just such a rare soul. And, you know, you always hope, like I said before, you always hope that your children's friends or even your friends as adults are going to step up and be by your side and help you when you're in need. But --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

C. WONSLEY: -- I can't fully answer that other than that.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you. There was one thing you said, Christine, yesterday that stayed with me, and as soon as you said it, I was watching the news conference live. I jotted it down. You started to talk about Nolan, and you said was, and then you corrected yourself and said is.

C. WONSLEY: Is. Yes.

BLACKWELL: Tell me why.

C. WONSLEY: So, because it's one of those still early in grief, right? So we're kind of back and forth. Before we came here, it was our youngest looks just like him. So just calling him Nolan and just still feeling his presence. So he may not physically be here, but he's still here with us.

BLACKWELL: You know, a question I have asked over the years of parents who have lost a child. It may seem unorthodox, but you say he's still with you. Do you still talk to Nolan?

C. WONSLEY: I do. That's --

BLACKWELL: And what do -- what do you say?

C. WONSLEY: I tell him we love him and we know he's with God and that we will not forget him or the joy that he's brought to us.

[08:15:06] BLACKWELL: Christine and Elmore Wonsley, attorney Ben Crump, thank you so much. And of course we will continue to follow this story as you search for answers. We'll take a break and we'll be back.

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[08:20:00]

BLACKWELL: There is a small bit of rare good news for hundreds of thousands of immigrants with temporary protected status. TPS recipients from seven countries were about to lose their work authorization this weekend. But hours before those permits expired, they were extended by the Trump administration. Not by much, though.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, work permits for recipients from Ethiopia, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and South Sudan, also Myanmar, they will now expire in less than a week, the 17th. For Haitians with TPS, they'll now expire on the 24th of July.

Now, ever since the Supreme Court ruling that President Trump could end the program, living in limbo has been disconcerting, let's say, for immigrants with temporary protected status, especially those from Haiti, in communities like Springfield. And that includes the people and the local businesses that employ them, these Haitian workers. Also the local economies that could take a hit if they soon won't be able to keep them employed.

Bud Downing is the owner of Express Employment Professionals in Springfield, Ohio, which helps match clients with workers.

Bud, thank you so much for being with me. How are -- you know, there's this little reprieve of just a couple of weeks, how are employers in Springfield, across Clark County, Ohio, responding to this? Do they know what to do?

BUD DOWNING, OWNER OF EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS IN SPRINGFIELD, O.H.: Good morning, Victor. I've spoken to a few employers in the last couple of weeks. I mean, I'm always engaged with my clients. This is not new to us. You know, TPS in the Haitian immigration into our area really peaked in '22, '23.

And these delays, what the administration in D.C. does, what the courts do, we're weary of it, but we're also kind of used to it. So businesses and the Haitian population that I'm familiar with, they're not really panicking. Businesses are telling me they've had time to plan whether that's going to be additional hiring, whether it's going to be overtime. They seem to have plans to mitigate any losses of production. I hope that's the case.

I think if you tell thousands of people that are working today that you can't work tomorrow and then rent is no longer paid, I don't know how I'm going to feed my kids, I think the disruption could be greater than what I'm hearing. But, you know, again, this is speculation.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And we are still -- again, it's a little bit of a reprieve, but it's just days away from figuring out exactly what that will be. It's speculation now to be reality in just a couple of weeks.

Now, the president, the argument he made for his mass deportation proposal was both on public safety but also an economic security argument. Let me play with what he said during the campaign. This is October of 2024.

DOWNING: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have an invasion of people into our country. They are going to be attacking, and they already are. The Black population jobs, the Hispanic population jobs, and they're attacking union jobs, too. And they're all pouring in. So when you see the border, it's not just the crime.

Your jobs are being taken away, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: How does that comport with the reality in Springfield? Are the Haitian TPS recipients there taking the jobs, the limited jobs that would otherwise be held by American workers?

DOWNING: Our unemployment as of May in Clark County, Ohio, is 3.2 percent. It used to be the Federal Reserve considered 5 percent full employment. And full employment means everybody that wants to work is working. So we're at 3.2 percent. We are still in a pinch for labor.

The experience I have is that they are contributing here locally and the businesses are quite happy with them. I think the amount of immigration we had so suddenly has really risen to the top as to what our challenges have been. It's not that we're challenged by immigration. We just had so much so quickly. It's hard to cope with.

BLACKWELL: Bud Downing, I thank you so much for helping us understand what's happening there in Springfield. We'll, of course, continue to watch it.

So I'm a fan of, you know, a nice beard. Clearly. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. He is not. Next, I'll speak to a critic of the secretary's no beardo policy who says the new push to crack down on military members with beards could disproportionately single out black soldiers.

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[08:29:00]

The chief of the Pentagon is leading a war against beards in the military. It sounds like it's not going well. There's new reporting from my colleague Sean Lyngaas, he learned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing for more action on enforcing his beard restriction policy. This comes after he visited a Navy ship in June and noticed multiple sailors with beards.

You see, back in September, Hegseth issued a memo that tightened restrictions on beards, and that includes medical based exemptions. The policy has a lot of critics, including my next guest, who points out it could have a disproportionate impact on Black service members.

Richard Brookshire is co-founder of the nonprofit Black Veterans Project.

Richard, welcome back to the show. So this is -- let's first talk about the beards and then I want to get into the larger ramifications of some of these decisions made by Hegseth. This pseudofolliculitis barbae, which a lot of people know as razor bumps, impacts Black men disproportionately.

[08:30:04]

American Osteopathic College of Dermatology estimates that up to 60 percent of black men have PFB.

What do you make of this focus by Hegseth considering all that's going on in the world on facial hair?

RICHARD BROOKSHIRE, CO-FOUNDER, BLACK VETERANS PROJECT: Yes, I think that this policy is married to a confluence of actions that are really built to create a hostile environment for black service members to serve and thrive in.

And quite frankly, it's meant to undermine the kind of pillars of our multiracial military and purge black troops. I mean, I think that on its face, like, black service members account for about 17 percent of troops currently serving on active duty, but they account for around 65 percent depending on the branch of service. For instance, in the Air Force with folks who have shaving waivers.

Right, shaving waivers that have been in place for decades. The policy around shaping was officially shifted around a decade ago. Some of the most elite forces in our military don full beards in combat. And so it's nonsensical.

And quite frankly, it's a policy that I deeply believe is tantamount to fraud, waste and abuse because it's a fraudulent claim. The disproven claim around gas masks being the impetus for the enforcement of this policy. It's wasting valuable American resources and manpower, and it's abusing authority to try to purge a cross section of the military on the auspices of this facially neutral policy, which on its face might seem like it should apply to everybody equally, but won't.

BLACKWELL: Yes. That meant the Pentagon justification for this policy is in part that the seal that's necessary for the gas mask and chemical weapons use is compromised if it's not a clean shave. You have pointed out, and we in our reporting have pointed out that there's been extensive testing around making sure that people who wear beards are protected.

Now we add this policy to the purging of websites and removing books from libraries and the dismissal of Charles Q. Brown as the chair of the Joint Chiefs and the rejection of promotions for black service members and for women as well. Your organization advocates for equity for black service members who

are active and retired. Is that achievable under this leadership?

BROOKSHIRE: I would say no, it is not. I think the policies they've undertaken are threat to again, our multiracial military and frankly to the dignity of everyone who serves, but most especially black troops.

BLACKWELL: And so you were infantry combat medic, US army, veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Would you still recommend the military to black service members or people who want to serve?

BROOKSHIRE: Listen, I'll never dissuade someone from deciding to put on the uniform. I think it is still a dignified choice. I don't divorce it from the history and legacy of racial discrimination that black troops have long had to face and uniform. And certainly in other chapters of our country's history, they've had to overcome far more than what's currently being put in place.

But this kind of creep back to policies of yesteryear that had been resolved and quite frankly provided more opportunity for black troops to ascend to the highest ranks of the military, but also to serve, like I said, with dignity. That to me is deeply concerning and we should all be troubled by these kinds of policies.

BLACKWELL: Richard Brookshire of the Black Veterans Project, thank you so much for being with me.

So there's new video coming in of the final moments of the man in Houston who was shot and killed by police -- by ICE, I should say. That man's family and the attorney for the three other men detained during the incident say that the Fed's story is not adding up. And the district attorney in Houston says federal officials are not cooperating or sharing evidence. Protests in Texas are now calling for justice.

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[08:38:53]

BLACKWELL: A Mexican immigrant and father of three was on his way to work when he was shot and killed by ICE agents. It's a situation that is becoming much too familiar. According to Ice, the 52-year-old refused commands and rammed his van into their vehicle. But now witnesses who were in that van have come out with a much different story.

A source tells CNN that Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not the target of the ICE operation. Other details are still not clear. There are questions about how the encounter escalated. Several agencies are investigating. Homeland Security's inspector general is looking into the shooting. The FBI's Houston Field Office has opened an investigation. Harris County's District Attorney is collecting information and evidence, but says access to key evidence remains under federal control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN TEARE, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: So we have, we have yet to be able to have access to the van. We've asked. We're going to continue to ask, and at some point in the relatively near future, we're going to go past asking and we're going to start asking judges to give us access to that van.

[08:40:00]

Because as you said, it is one of, if not the most crucial piece of evidence to really uncover what actually happened out there that morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, the community and the League of United Latin American Citizens are calling for an independent investigation. The group issued a statement Thursday saying in part. Still, LULAC has received no direct response from the Department of Homeland Security or from Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership to its growing fully justified demands for answers. This silence is unacceptable and intolerable.

Let's talk about the information we do have right now about what happened Tuesday morning. 5:54 a.m., Salgado Araujo is seen in his driveway getting ready to leave his home for work. Just about an hour later at 6:46, surveillance video spots him and the van driving with an ICE vehicle following him.

Well, less than a minute later, a home security camera sees the van and the ICE vehicle pulling alongside him. That was a minute before the shooting. And later in the video, an ICE vehicle is seen again by itself.

Another surveillance video shows a black SUV driving through a shopping center, joining that pursuit. And then another camera shows an SUV tailings Salgado Araujo, whose van, as it stops in front of a home, then turns and slowly drives on the sidewalk and two officers chase it on foot. Now we do not have video of what happened when the shots were fired.

CNN has obtained a video of the aftermath. A cell phone video shows the van was stopped in front of a former barber shop and you could see officers kneeling over a person on the sidewalk. Now ICE has claimed that the van rammed their vehicle, resulting in an officer firing in self-defense. An attorney for the three men in the van who were detained by ICE says that is not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGO BALDERAS-IBARRA, ATTORNEY: My client's versions of the events are extremely different from what ICE agents are saying or what the agency is saying. All three of my clients reiterated that at no point was there ever an agent standing in front of the vehicle nor was an agent ever placed in the line of danger. That is simply false. And I believe my clients are telling the truth. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now we do not have any video released by Homeland Security. None of the agents involved had body cams or dash cams or their unmarked vehicles were equipped with any cameras. We'll keep following this story.

Coming up, why Native American communities out west are alarmed by the federal government removing wild horses from their ancestral lands.

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[08:47:12]

BLACKWELL: Despite months of legal battles, Native American tribes along the California-Nevada border are now watching a centuries old part of their culture get rounded up and taken away. A lawsuit to stop the removal of hundreds of wild horses around the area of Mono Lake failed.

A 2024 federal census shows that nearly 700 horses are there on ancestral land and the Bureau of Land Management says the area cannot support that many. So starting on Wednesday, federal officials started rounding up 90 percent of the herd with helicopters and vehicles that be taken away to be adopted or to live on farms.

The Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribal Chairman Shane Saulque said in a statement that this is not the end of our fight. The federal government still has not meaningfully consulted this tribe as the law requires and we intend to see it through to protect the horses and our irreplaceable cultural resources.

Ronda Kauk has captured these amazing images of these horses, including during the roundup that started this week. She's a cultural monitor for the Mono Lake Kootzaduka'a Tribe and Benton Palute Tribe and a founder of the Indigenous Wild Horse Society.

Ronda, thank you for being with me. I first want to understand the stakes for Native communities. What is the significance of these horses on this land? Just to help us understand why this is so culturally offensive.

RONDA KAUK, MONO LAKE KOOTZADUKA'A TRIBE AND BENTON PALUTE TRIBE CULTURAL TRIBAL MONITOR: So the significance of these horses, they're our connection to the land, to our spirit, to our ancestors, and everything that we are today as human beings.

BLACKWELL: And so what has it felt like of these last several days, watching as they've been started to be wound up, to be adopted out?

KAUK: It's been painful, angry, very hurtful. I feel like I failed the horses because I felt like I was here to protect them from what happened to our ancestors, their ancestors. And I know it's not just my fault, but it's very heartbreaking that, like, history keeps repeating itself because these are our relatives, and that's how us Indigenous people feel and see them.

Also, you know, they've been a part of our culture for longer than any of us standing on this planet right now, and it's just been very overwhelming.

[08:50:08]

You know, I feel sick to my stomach. I feel like I'm grieving right now. And I feel like I lost a part of me.

BLACKWELL: Now the federal government says that the growing population of the horses, they estimate around 694. 694 of these wild horses. They're planning to gather about 450 of them. They say that they threaten the land. Federal, state, local and private. Forest service says that rangeland, hydrologic and wildlife habitat conditions are deteriorating. Trampling. They're trampling. And manure is damaging international migratory bird nesting areas. Vehicle, horse and bicycle horse collisions have happened in recent years.

Do you accept that the land and the water is suffering from the population? I mean, what do you make of their case for rounding up and moving these horses?

KAUK: Absolutely I don't accept that. It's lies. I live out in the land every day. I'm out there with my children. I'm out there to connect to my ancestors, to get healing. And that is a lie. You know, these are all based off of years of their science facts.

In my world, there's no science facts. You go out there and you be with the land and you understand the land. You learn the land. The land will teach you. The horses will teach you. This is not based on books or science facts. And not one of these agencies have sat down with us and learn that from our point of view. They're just going out there, putting their little tubes in the water or measuring stuff, and that's telling them.

I just think it's crazy. I don't believe that. I wish they would sit down with all the sistering tribes around here and listen to our voices because this is painful.

What do they feel? What do they feel if somebody came into their home and took their family?

BLACKWELL: Ronda Kauk, I thank you for sharing this story, which is obviously painful for you, sharing these images. And we'll continue to follow what's happening there along the border.

Coming up, our Art Is Life series and the new exhibit that shows through art why football slash soccer is called the beautiful game.

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[08:56:58]

BLACKWELL: So we're getting closer to the grand finale of the World Cup next weekend. And to be honest, I did not know too much about soccer slash football going in. But this tournament has given so many of us an education on why fans call it the "Beautiful Game." The perfect pass, dribble a shot on the goal can really look like a work of art.

So for Art Is Life this week, I want to share the story of an exhibit in Texas that's using art to show the deeper impact of the world's favorite sport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON RYAN SMITH, CURATOR: Hi, my name is Jackson Ryan Smith. I'm in Houston, Texas and I'm the curator of "A Beautiful Game: Every Match Leaves A Mark"

TERENCE NTSAKO MALULEKE, DIGITAL ARTIST: Terence Ntsako Maluleke I'm from Soweto, South Africa and I'm an artist.

SMITH: We really have this beautiful collaboration between artists all over the world and kind of telling the different stories of what football really means to them. I believe that the message is really that soccer is more than a sport. I believe that soccer is truly intertwined into our culture.

MALULUKE: Babi Boys and then there is the second one towards Dory. I had a month long residency really soaking up Cote d'Ivoire. The culture, the people and everybody from different backgrounds would connect with this one shoe. It's very accessible and it's -- and it's very comfortable.

When you're watching these kids play, there's a freedom that they carry and it's carried with these shoes because, like, it would break and then they would replace it quite easily because it's quite accessible. It turned the idea of a limitation into something so beautiful. Babi Boys. They're boys from Babi, basically.

And they are back to back, they seem to be on opposing teams, but they are wearing one uniform. So I love this idea of we play against each other, but we are all kind of from the same.

SMITH: They're tied to dreams, they're tied to community, they're tied to culture. And so these are a lot of the main narratives that come out in the works. We have one piece in the show that shows the 1970s Brazilian football team that won the World Cup back in Mexico. It depicts Pele hugging the rest of his teammates. All of his teammates are around him.

And so I think that really goes to show just how important teamwork is in order to become successful.

MALULEKE: Art can be a start to those conversations and it can also be. It can lead to some answers that are uncomfortable and maybe find some sort of result, but at least it can spark much deeper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And you can view the exhibit now through next Saturday, July 18, the weekend of the World Cup Final. The gallery is open from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and by reservation during the week. Visit mitochondriagallery.com for more.

And thank you for joining me today. Smerconish is up next.